Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson says he has paid his $173 transit fine and wants to focus on his campaign. (CBC)

Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson, who had refused to pay a transit fine, has settled the ticket, admitting he made a mistake.

Robertson said Wednesday he forked over $173 and wanted to move on with his election campaign. The civic election is on Nov. 15.

"My mistake was in pursuing it in the midst of this election campaign," he told CBC News. "It was a little unfortunate that it came up so fiercely and took attention away from more critical issues facing the city."

In June 2007, Robertson used a $2.25 single-zone ticket to travel on a SkyTrain from Burnaby to Vancouver, a trip that required a two-zone fare of $3.25. He was slapped with a transit ticket but said the fine was too high for a $1 mistake.

"The critical thing here was I always intended to pay it. I'm just questioning the fairness of the fines," he said Wednesday.

After Robertson's unpaid ticket made headlines earlier this week, the former New Democratic MLA said he was disputing the ticket to draw public attention to the issue of high transit fines.

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon on Tuesday called Robertson a "freeloader" and a "cheater" and questioned Robertson's sincerity because he didn't address the issue when he was a member of the legislature.

Non-Partisan Association mayoral candidate Coun. Peter Ladner had accused Robertson of being a bad role model for young people by defying the laws. He declined to comment on Robertson's change of stand Wednesday.

NPA Coun. Suzanne Anton said Robertson showed weak leadership.

"We have over $3 million in unpaid tickets, and you get a guy like this, who purports to be a community leader, saying 'Oh no, you don't have to pay your ticket, take it to court. It doesn't matter. [The] ticket [fine] is too high … What kind of example does that set?" Anton said.

Robertson had intended to contest the ticket at a hearing next month, but that hearing was cancelled after he paid the fine.